To the brink of calamity
by Saito Uzumaki
Summary: Yin and Yang. Black and White. Male and Female. Two children, twins, each with half of the Kyuubi's chakra sealed within them. Can they cast aside their respective ideals and find some common ground in each other? Or will their constant bickering tear the very world asunder… Story written and edited by Saito Namikaze Reborn and ZariGS
1. Chapter 1

Key:

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**"Higher being speech"**

_**'Higher being thoughts'**_

* * *

**Chapter one: The calm before the storm**

If one were to ask a random citizen of Konohagakure no Sato what the date of August twenty-fourth symbolized, they would almost always answer with two words; the Academy. More or less, this is because said institution began the start of a new term on that day, for almost every year since the village's founding.

The obvious exceptions to this were the years during wartime, where the curriculum was fast-forwarded and altered to churn out new Shinobi and Kunoichi at a moment's notice, regardless of what date or day of the year it was.

Those irregularities aside, today was no different than any other normal year; children of ages five to twelve came flocking to the Academy's gates, some returning to continue their studies while others were just beginning the journey they would take towards becoming a Ninja.

However, while this was the case almost every time those same doors opened for another term, this year was special. Perhaps it would be best to rephrase that, though; it was not the year itself that was special, rather the collection of new students who would be entering for the first time.

While many were civilian born, some of them not even native to the Land of Fire, there was also a student entering from practically every major clan in Konoha - the Aburame, Akamichi, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Nara, Uchiha, and Yamanaka.

But even if this was a marked change from previous years, none of these clan heirs - and clan heirs they were - are the main focus of our story; sure, some may play a part in it, but this is actually a tale about two specific individuals, gender twins, who would eventually end up saving the world - or destroying it.

* * *

"Ne Aniki, do you think Ji-chan will allow us to enter the Academy this year?" A young girl of about six asked, bouncing lightly with excitement on the balls of her feet.

Her twin brother, seated on a bench not three feet away from her, merely shrugged as a method of replying.

"You know how it is, Imouto; Jiji can't do much against the combined council. After all, we could have gone last year, but the council got in the way, something about us not being ready to be a ninja or whatever."

Huffing slightly at the reminder of the unfairness they faced on a daily basis, the girl joined her twin in sitting on the bench as they lapsed into a companionable silence. In truth, neither of them knew why the rest of the villagers seemed to hate them so much, only that whatever it was had to be something outside of their control.

Because, logically speaking, as far back as they could remember they'd always been the target of hateful glares and the like by the older generations - even before they started pulling a few pranks here and there to get some attention. Of course, said pranks only intensified the frowns sent their way, but that was beside the point.

And yet, despite all the ridicule and animosity they put up with on a daily basis, the twins found solace in each other's presence. After all, who better to relate to than one who understands your pain?

* * *

In room 205 of the academy a rather large group of kids were chatting loudly amongst themselves, talking about a multitude of subjects, like how their summer vacation went or what they had for dinner last night.

In the front of the room, leaning against the teacher's desk was the Chūnin instructor for this particular class, Umino Iruka. The man gazed silently across the large group of kids as they continued to yammer away, absentmindedly rubbing the scar across the bridge of his nose with a small smile.

While many of his students came from a civilian background, it was still easy enough for him to spot the heirs to each of Konoha's major Shinobi clans scattered around the room, most minding their own business or talking amongst themselves like the rest of the students.

Glancing down at his hands in thought, he contemplated the lineup of said heirs; Aburame Shino, Akamichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru, Uchiha Sasuke, and Yamanaka Ino.

Each of these students had their own quirks and differences, of course, though some were more noticeable than others. For instance, Shino sat silently in the far corner of the room, just as stoic as any of his fellow clansmen were reputed to be.

Chouji sat next to his best friend Shikamaru, feeding his face with chips while the Nara had his head laid down, obviously fast asleep.

Iruka had to sigh at that, as he just knew it would take more effort than he could spare to break those two of their particular habits. Moving on, however, Hinata sat by herself in the middle of the room, trying her best to look small and unnoticeable.

Kiba was laughing and being rowdy with a group of other kids, his dog Akamaru perched in the usual place on top of the Inuzuka's head. Sasuke was by himself, gazing out the window, though if one looked closely enough they could tell he was observing the other kids with his peripheral vision. And finally, Ino was with one Haruno Sakura, as well as a bunch of other girls, giggling up a storm over the class's resident Uchiha.

"Iruka-sempai I have the list for you." A voice said from the side. Iruka looked towards his friend and assistant Mizuki and smiled, taking the list of students with a soft thank you.

The man looked over the list with a calculative eye. He knew every student in here since they first entered a year ago. Iruka was to be their teacher for the next six years till they were old enough to become genin, if they could pass the graduation exam that is.

As Iruka continued looking at the list, he darted his eyes up occasionally to check off each of the students. Having done this many times in the last year, it wasn't long before he managed to check off the last of his many pupils.

Just to make sure he had caught everyone, though, he looked back at the list to double check. After all, he wouldn't want to accidentally forget to mark off a child who was here now would he?

Iruka's eye's scanned down the list till he stopped at a pair of names that were right under Uchiha Sasuke's name. His eye's widened once he saw the names and instantly looked up, looking around the room for the two, but they were nowhere to be found.

Iruka scratched his head for a moment, thinking it had been a mistake of some sort; he would have to take it up with the Hokage later. Casting a glance at the clock he saw that it was time to begin, so he spoke up to get the kids to settle down.

It didn't work.

Trying again, he raised his voice slightly, but alas, it still didn't have the desired effect. Though when his left eye started twitching out of sheer annoyance, the few children that were aware enough to notice said physical tic started slinking back to their seats, knowing what was to come.

Of course, the rest of the class was still oblivious to their teacher's irritation, so the scarred Chūnin carefully performed the necessary hand signs for his own created Jutsu, inhaling sharply soon after.

"I SAID, SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!" Iruka screamed, the Big Demonic Head Jutsu doing exactly as its name implied, expanding his head to epic proportions. Almost immediately, the kids who had yet to do so rushed into their seats and looked towards him in silence.

Iruka nodded and cleared his throat to begin his speech.

"Thank you. I hope you all had a nice summer break, and for those who are new and just started, my name is Umino Iruka, though you may call me Iruka-sensei. Now before we get started I want to tell you all…" Iruka stopped mid-sentence when the door opened up, causing him and everyone else in the room to look towards the doorway.

Imagine everyone's surprise when the Sandaime Hokage, dressed in his formal Hokage robes, walked into the room with two kids by his side, their small hands clutching onto his robes a bit shyly.

"Hokage-sama." Iruka greeted with a bow, along with Mizuki who bowed as well. The kids were amazed to see the Hokage in their classroom and muttered amongst themselves, but their attention was quickly transferred to the two kids.

Everyone gazed at them in curiosity, causing the girl to clutch tighter onto the Hokage's robes and hide behind him a little more while the boy made a similar action.

"At ease Iruka, Mizuki. Good morning class." Hiruzen Sarutobi greeted with a warm smile.

"Good morning Hokage-sama." The class chorused all sporting similar grins and smiles. Hiruzen smiled back before turning to Iruka.

"I'm sorry for interrupting Iruka, I just wanted to drop these two off, it's their first year. Kids, this is Iruka-sensei, your new teacher." Hiruzen told them. The two moved their gaze to Iruka who gave a small smile and nod towards them, both twins nodding back.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. Would you like to introduce yourselves to the class?" Iruka asked. The two kids were nervous and looked towards their Ji-chan who gave a warm smile and nod.

Nodding to Iruka the girl looked to her brother who seemed just as nervous as her. Puffing out her chest, she decided to be the good big sister she was and marched in front of the class, letting them all get a good look.

The girl had long red hair with blonde streaks that stopped mid way down her back. Her skin was fair and looked soft as well. The girl also had puffy cheeks naturally making her face look round. She had a button nose and heart shaped lips that were set into a minor pout.

Her eyes were a mix between sky blue and dark blue, resulting in them ending up as close to violet in color. She wore a yellow sundress with black sandals. She was also of average height for a girl her age. On her face one could see six faint whisker marks, three on each side of her cheeks.

"My name is Shiki Uzumaki! And I'm going to become the first female Hokage Datteyume!" Shiki yelled out, her face turning red a bit from embarrassment.

Everyone blinked in surprise except for her brother and Hiruzen who just smiled a nostalgic smile. The room was silent for a while till Kiba busted out laughing and pointed at her.

"You, Hokage?! There is no way a girl will ever become Hokage! That's a man's job, for someone like me!" Kiba shouted with a grin, some boys joining in with the laugh while half of the girls including Hinata shot Kiba a glare.

"What's wrong with being a girl?" Ino growled with a dark angry tone in her voice. Kiba blinked and looked around for an exit before one of his classmates saved him by directing the attention back on the girl named Shiki.

"Hey look at her face! She's all red like a tomato!" The boy laughed at her, causing her to look down and frown, a tear ready to drop from her cheeks. Iruka was about to scold the kids from laughing till the boy - who had yet to introduce himself - spoke up.

"Hey stop laughing at my sister Dattebayo! She doesn't look like a tomato and she's going to be the best female Hokage ever! And if I hear you making fun of my sister, I'm going to beat you down! Got me?!" The boy yelled causing everyone to look on him.

The boy was a little taller than his claimed sister, though still of average height for his age. Unlike his sister who had red hair, though, his was sun-kissed and blonde, almost golden. The many locks of the stuff were set into a messy array of spikes, about neck length.

He had a light tan too, while his sky blue eyes looked like they were glowing a bit. Like Shiki, he also possessed three whisker marks on each cheek, although his were a bit more pronounced than Shiki's.

The boy wore an orange sleeveless hoodie with a black short sleeved T-shirt underneath, black ANBU-style pants and matching black sandals.

"Oh yeah, and who are you?" A civilian boy from a rich family sneered arrogantly. The blonde glared at the boy and spoke his name with a light growl.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Dattebayo!" Naruto introduced. The kid huffed before turning away as Iruka clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Well then now that is out of the way, would you two please take a seat next to Sasuke? Sasuke can you raise your hand please?" Iruka asked, causing the boy to do so.

Naruto grabbed his sister's hand who felt a bit better. The two walked up the steps towards Sasuke and sat down with Shiki sitting on the edge, her hand still in Naruto's.

"Once again I'm sorry for interrupting Iruka. Now class I want you all to be nice and welcoming to Naruto-kun and Shiki-chan. I will see you two later." Hiruzen smiled.

"Bye Ji-chan! Good luck with the paperwork!" Shiki waved with a large grin on her face while Naruto waved to him as well. Hiruzen nodded with a sad sigh, man did he hate paperwork.

Once the Hokage was gone, Iruka had the class turn their attention back to him. Of course, Naruto and Shiki seemed more interested in what he had to say than most of the returnees, as they were still new to this.

Once Iruka was done with his speech, he started reviewing on what the class learned last year. The two twins were happy that their Ji-chan taught them what they needed to know the first year, letting them be prepared for the pre-test they eventually took in class.

When lunch time came around the kids went outside to play. Naruto was a bit nervous when he saw the other kids playing with each other, and Shiki was too, but she wanted to look brave in front of her younger brother and looked around.

"Ano, Imouto, I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back!" Naruto told her before he ran off to go take care of his business. Shiki nodded and waited for her brother to come back, looking around the playground as she did.

The girl turned around when she heard footsteps behind her. When she did, Shiki saw a mixed group of boys and girls. A boy with brown hair and slightly expensive brand new clothes,

And a girl with purple hair, wearing new clothes as well. Shiki realized that these two must have been the leaders of this group, both of whom were looking at her with hidden interest.

Shiki also remembered that the leader boy was the same civilian kid that asked who her brother was.

"So what are you doing here playing all alone Tomato-chan?" The boy sneered. Shiki bristled a bit at being called a tomato, as she didn't really like that name.

"I'm waiting for Aniki to come back so we can play catch, unless you want to play with us!" Shiki beamed, trying to at least make friends on her first day.

"Hn, why would we want to play with you? I mean look at your hair, it's so weird and foreign!" The girl stated pulling her hair to get a feel for it. Shiki flinched in pain and smacked the girl's hair away.

"Stop that! That hurt!" Shiki told the girl.

"That hurt did it? Pull on her hair again Ami, lets see if we can make this baby cry." The boy smirked along with the other kids. Ami did so but Shiki smacked her hand away again.

"I said stop it! OW!" Shiki yelped in pain as the boy yanked on her hair as well. Shiki pushed him a bit to stop the pain, but the boy didn't like being pushed and pushed her down twice as hard into the sand box, getting sand into her hair.

Shiki sniffed as the sand got into her hair. Standing back up she was going to run when a couple of boys and girls pulled on her hair, yanking a few strands out and pushing her back into the sand.

That's when Shiki did start crying, wondering why these kids were so mean to her, she just wanted to make friends was all.

"Shiki!" Naruto yelled as he rushed over to his sister who looked towards him with red eyes.

"Aniki?" She whispered. The leader of the group known as Taji sneered as he watched Naruto run over to their area.

"Oh, so you got your brother to come and back you up? What is he going to do?" Taji asked with a sneer before a fist impacted with his face. The boy fell on the ground in disbelief to what happened.

Everyone looked to see the fist, belonged to Naruto, and he was not happy.

"Look what he did to Taji! Get him!" A boy yelled as he and the others surrounded Naruto who started aiming and successfully hitting the boys and dodging punches while taking a few hits.

"FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!" The other kids cheered on as they saw what was going on.

Shiki watched as her brother was getting hurt and was not happy about it. With a roar she charged into the battle and started beating up on boys and girls, not caring who she hit just as long as it wasn't her brother.

Iruka and Mizuki came out of the classroom and ran towards the group of cheering kids to see what was going on. To their surprise, the group of bullies that were picking on the Uzumaki twins were down on the ground knocked out.

Naruto was right above Taji punching his lights out over and over again while Shiki was kicking Ami over and over, both having feral looks on their faces.

That's when Iruka decided to end this. He pulled Naruto off of an unconscious Taji while Mizuki grabbed Shiki, both were trying to get out of their grips and finish what the other kids started.

However the teachers weren't going to let them go anytime soon.

* * *

**Hokage office**

Hiruzen sighed and rubbed his temples together as the last of the parents left his office. It seems that Taji and Ami were needed to be sent to the hospital due to the injuries the Uzumaki twins caused.

Taji had a broken nose, some missing teeth and a slight concussion, while Ami had a shortened amount of hair, a knot on her forehead and two broken ribs.

The other kids who participated in the event got off somewhat easy in comparison. They either got bloody noses, busted lips, black eyes or bumps on their heads.

After pulling Naruto and Shiki away from their victims, Iruka and Mizuki set them aside to calm down before Iruka himself brought the two to his office after lunch was over. Not to shortly after that, all of the parents - whether it be the father, mother or both - came to give Hiruzen a piece of their minds and find out what the hell happened.

Once Hiruzen told them it was a reaction from their kids bullying one of the Uzumaki's they were a bit upset at their children but more upset towards the two twins, knowing what they were and wanting them to be tormented a little. However, that plan had apparently backfired, putting their own children into the hospital.

Of course, they held their tongue once Hiruzen gave them a fierce glare and sent them out, telling them he would pay for 15% of Taji and Ami's medical bills.

The Sandaime turned his head to the two twins and sighed once more. Shiki was sitting calmly in her chair swinging her feet while drawing a picture, while Naruto looked a little pissed with his arms crossed and a small scowl on his face.

Hiruzen honestly loved the two like his own grandchildren, but damn could they give him a headache from time to time. As he gazed at the two a small smile was brought to his face.

Shiki was a very sweet and excitable girl, bright too. She put up a brave front most of the time, claiming she wanted to be a good example for her little brother even though they were only born minutes apart.

Naruto on the other hand was a bit different. He was bit cold to others but very warm and happy towards the people he did trust. The boy loved his sister very much and would do anything for her, claiming that he wanted her to always be safe even though he was younger.

Shiki also loved her brother as much as Naruto loved her. They wouldn't be seen without each other, and if they were it was only for trivial reasons, like one of them had to go to the bathroom, or the other was asleep; things like that.

The two were also seen often holding each others' hands and being close. Hiruzen thought it was sweet and cute that the two would go so far to protect each other. And if the villagers weren't so fed up with their grudge with the two innocent kids, they would think so too.

He sighed as he thought of the villagers and how they saw Naruto and Shiki. They have always been looked down upon and scorned since they could remember. It broke his heart whenever he saw Shiki start crying because of something the villagers did or said to her and her brother, while Naruto would be defensive and fight anyone and anything that wanted to harm his sister.

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" Hiruzen asked softly with a calm expression, waiting patiently. Naruto huffed, his little arms still crossed while Shiki looked nervous.

Sarutobi could tell the girl wanted to say something and that Naruto would keep his mouth shut till either his sister said something or he was threatened with no ramen. A small unnoticeable smile was brought to his face at the twin's favorite food, Miso and Salt Ramen.

Shiki glanced at her brother before looking back at the Hokage and spoke.

"Well it was lunch time, Aniki and I wanted to find someone to play with and make friends. But before we started looking, Aniki's small bladder got in the way so he had to go to the bathroom." Shiki teased, causing her brother to blush in embarrassment.

"While Aniki was away I decided we could just play catch and whoever wanted to join in could play too. But that's when those group of bullies came and started picking on me. I offered for them to play with us but they insulted me and pulled my hair." Shiki frowned rubbing her hair subconsciously.

"I told them to stop but they kept on pulling my hair till that big oaf Toli or Tazi...ugh, whatever his name was pushed me. I tried getting up and running away to find Aniki or Iruka-sensei but he pushed me again, then Aniki came and saved me." Shiki beamed.

Hiruzen blinked before he looked towards Naruto.

"Is this true Naruto?" He asked and Naruto simply huffed.

"I don't know, but I believe Onee-chan. I came back from the bathroom to see her crying, sand in her hair and on the ground. So I called her name and knocked that loser's lights out, stupid mitch." Naruto muttered causing Hiruzen to raise a brow.

"Mitch? What does that mean?" Sarutobi asked. Naruto blushed a bit before he answered.

"It means a male bitch." He stated. Shiki blinked before she smacked Naruto on the back of the head and scolded him for language causing him to grumble.

"So I beat them down like I promised and now we're here." Naruto shrugged. Hiruzen sighed before he spoke.

"I'm sorry your first day was like this. I will understand if you don't want to retu…"

"It's okay Ji-chan! I want to become a Shinobi so the villagers can finally give me the respect we deserve! And once I become Hokage, then everyone will respect me!" Shiki declared with conviction.

Naruto watched his sister before shaking his head, a small smile on his face. Sarutobi smiled at her warmly seeing as she was standing on the chair posing.

"And what about you, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked the youngest of the two. Naruto closed his eyes and crossed his arms, trying to look cool.

"I'll do whatever Shiki-chan wants to do, however I will continue to beat those losers down should they try picking on her or me again." Naruto told him.

Hiruzen nodded before his attention went to the door since it was knocked on.

"Enter." The Hokage allowed. As the door opened, the oldest son of Uchiha Fugaku and heir to the Uchiha clan walked in with a stoic expression on his facial features.

"Itachi-nii!" Shiki and Naruto cheered as they tackled said heir's legs. A small smile came across Itachi's stoic features as he gazed at the two twins.

"Shiki-chan, Naruto-kun, how are you two today?" Itachi asked them. The two replied with a united fine, causing him to nod.

"Is there something I can help you with Itachi?" Hiruzen asked. Itachi nodded.

"Yes Hokage-sama, it has to do with the clan and is of utmost importance." Itachi told him. Hiruzen raised a brow before nodding.

"Naruto-kun, Shiki-chan, I want you two to go with Neko-san and walk home. I will have an Anbu escort you two to the academy tomorrow morning, understood?" Hiruzen told them. The two children nodded with a yes.

A female Anbu appeared and escorted the two twins out after they said goodbye to the Uchiha and the Hokage, heading home.

Sarutobi sighed before he turned serious and looked towards Itachi with a penetrating gaze.

"So what is it that you need, Itachi?"

"Would it be okay for you to remove your Anbu Hokage-sama? This is important and I don't want this information getting out." Itachi said, a bit more serious than he usually was. This caused Hiruzen to narrow his eyes before nodding, sending his Anbu hidden in the shadows out.

"What is the matter Itachi?" Sarutobi asked once more. Itachi sighed and closed his eyes before he spoke.

"It's father and the clan. They are planning a coup 'd etat." Itachi told him. Hiruzen stared at him with a blank expression, not really sure that he'd just heard the young ANBU member correctly.

"Excuse me?" The man asked with narrowed eyes, some of KI leaking out, causing Itachi to get a little nervous.

"The Uchiha are planning a coup, they want to have an uprising. They have been planning for a couple of weeks now, at first I thought it was just a cruel joke and that they would come to their senses and just forget about it, but they are serious." Itachi explained.

Sarutobi glared, not at Itachi but the fact that the Uchiha would rise against him. Though he sighed, he should have seen this coming, ever since the attack from Kyuubi 6 years ago, almost 100 percent of the village blamed the Uchiha, thinking they had some part in this since they were absent when the demon attacked.

They isolated themselves from the village, and didn't want any outsiders in their compound unless it was him or they had a very good reason. They kept to themselves but still were scarcely seen around the village, due to most of their forces in the Uchiha police department, which Fugaku ran.

Sarutobi didn't like violence, not by any means, in fact he would like to work things out peacefully before he needed to resort to violence.

"Does anybody know what you are doing right now? Do they have plans for you specifically?" Sarutobi asked the teen. Itachi nodded his head.

"They do have plans for me but no one knows that I am reporting to you. Father wants me to work as an agent, get information from within the Anbu and relay any plans that you have made to him. He thinks the coup will be successful and when it is he plans on making me Hokage." Itachi told the man.

Hiruzen remained silent before he spoke up again.

"Are there any who don't agree with this like you or who are naïve to this plot?" Hiruzen asked. Itachi nodded.

"Hai, the children who aren't genin yet, which includes my younger brother Sasuke. My mother also doesn't agree with this, but my father won't hear her. Other than that, the clan is with him all the way." Itachi answered.

The Hokage frowned in thought. If it was only the children who were naïve yet everyone but few agreed with this plot, that means their parents would influence their thoughts greatly, the clan already had a superior complex.

"I see, thank you Itachi for letting me know of this information. I have a job for you, I'll see if I can smooth things over with them without giving them to much power, but I want you to keep an eye on them, and tell me everything whenever you can. Do they have a specific date as of yet?" Hiruzen wondered.

"Not really. They want to stick with the annual Konoha festival, when the village was first founded, or they might start on October tenth out of spite. But other than that it's still up for grabs." Itachi told the Hokage.

Hiruzen scowled, those dates were so far apart that it didn't even give him a good estimate of how much time he had.

The annual Konoha festival wasn't for another 7 months while October was close to two months away. He at least hoped it was the former, as it would give him more time and chances to smooth this over before he had to inform his advisers of this predicament.

"I see, thank you Itachi. Dismissed." Hiruzen told the teen who bowed before leaving the office. With the another sigh, the old Sarutobi rubbed his temples together before turning around in his chair and gazed at his village through the office window.

"Let's hope things go well..."

* * *

**With Uzumaki twins**

Naruto and Shiki were walking towards their apartment hand in hand with the cat masked Anbu walking behind them, keeping an eye out. The two twins were silent the whole way home which was unusual for them since it was Shiki who would strike up conversation or just point things out.

But the two were thinking about their first day at the academy. Shiki was upset that it went so bad while Naruto was pissed that people dared pick on his Onee-chan, after he gave them a warning.

But in all honesty, he was just upset that he and his sister didn't make any friends, they probably made more enemies then anything. However that didn't matter to Naruto, as long as he had his beloved and favorite Onee-chan he could care less.

Shiki didn't possess the same thoughts. While she did love her Aniki more than anything and would never give him up, she was lonely still. She wanted more friends to play with and see if she could relate to any of them.

Her Aniki was her favorite person and best friend, don't get her wrong, but it was sometimes weird talking to him about girl stuff when he was interested in something else. And she was sure he felt the same way when it came to boy stuff.

While she liked going into clothing stores and looking for clothes, he liked going to find fights and rough house. They were completely different, yet the same.

Shiki snapped out of her thoughts when Naruto opened the door to the apartment their Ji-chan gave to them. They walked into the small house and said goodbye to their Anbu escort before they started getting ready for bed.

Naruto slept in a tank top and pajama pants while Shiki slept in a big shirt and shorts. The two shared the same bed and had no problem with it.

Shiki got in the bed first and laid down on her side while Naruto laid behind her and put his arm over her waist bringing her closer to him, allowing her to feel his warmth.

The two had always slept like this and didn't want to change. Naruto kissed his sister's head before saying goodnight and going to sleep. Shiki yawned and told her brother goodnight as well before she snuggled closer into his chest before falling asleep.

* * *

**Next morning, Uchiha police department**

Uchiha Fugaku was not a man to be looked down upon. He was the head of the Uchiha clan and captain of the police department. So naturally he knew about every single Jutsu that the Uchiha clan possessed.

The man was strong, about Anbu commander level, even without his Sharingan. With his Sharingan, he would say he was about Jiraiya of the Sannin's level, even if he was a Jounin.

Fugaku always had his clan and family's best interests at heart, even if he didn't show it. He was stoic and rarely ever smiled or praised someone unless they impressed him greatly.

For a total of three years, he contemplated with himself and the Uchiha elders should he try to attempt an uprising against Konoha and the Sandaime. Just four months ago, he came to a decision.

He would.

It took many hours of planning and hiding the clan's strength to feel at least a little bit confident that this would not go wrong. But in the back of his mind he knew that something was afoot.

Looking at the family photo on his desk, Fugaku gazed at his stoic eldest son Itachi. The boy was his pride and joy, his hope that the Uchiha would always be seen strong and untouchable.

But just by looking at this picture of his son, he knew Itachi would most likely be the down fall of the Uchiha. Fugaku was afraid that Itachi would betray the clan for Konoha, and he felt that he should be.

He always kept on his toes around Itachi whenever the clan had a meeting, it was as if he was feeding information to his son, only for Itachi to report to the Hokage. Call it paranoia but Fugaku was sure that was exactly was going on.

His eyes drifted downward to his youngest son, Sasuke. Despite his attitude towards Sasuke, he loved his son just like he loved Itachi or his wife Mikoto. It was just that he didn't know how to express his love towards his son.

He knew that the boy was in Itachi's shadow, and that he was desperately trying to gain his attention, it sometimes worked, but Fugaku always figured Itachi was better and dismissed his youngest.

Now was the perfect time to finally acknowledge Sasuke, just in case his fears of Itachi betraying the clan were true. But Fugaku had to be careful in making sure that Sasuke didn't follow Itachi's path or ideals.

His oldest hated war and would strive for peace. It was understandable considering Itachi grew up during the third world war, and was forced to fight against others at the tender age of seven.

Fugaku always knew in the back of his mind that Itachi loved Konoha more than his clan, and it made Fugaku upset a bit. But that's why he had two sons. Just in case one falls the other could replace him and be much greater.

Once again, Fugaku's eyes moved towards his beautiful wife, Mikoto. While she wasn't Kushina Uzumaki, she was still beautiful. Fugaku loved her almost as deeply as he had loved Kushina.

Mikoto was best friends with Kushina in the past, that's why Fugaku guessed she cared so much about the Uzumaki twins. Mikoto was their 'Aunt' after all, even if they didn't know it.

Fugaku was neutral to the Uzumaki twins. While he sorta despised Minato Namikaze, he cared for Kushina Uzumaki. And since the two kids were her children yet they were Minato's as well, it caused him to be neutral towards them.

There were only a handful of people who deeply cared for the two Uzumaki children. Mikoto, Itachi, the Ichiraku family and The Hokage.

A frown marred his usual stoic face at the thought of Sarutobi Hiruzen. The man's ideal, 'The will of fire' was noble, yet childish and naïve. One didn't get stronger through love, only with power.

That was one of the reasons Fugaku wanted to rise against the Hokage and his Senju beliefs. It was time for an Uchiha to take office and show that with a certain ideal, the other nations will fall and Konoha will truly become the strongest village in all of the elemental nations.

Peace has made everyone lax and weak. Fugaku wanted to change that. If Itachi wouldn't take office, then he sure would.

A knock on his door caused him to snap from his musings and told the person to enter. Imagine his great surprise and nervousness when the leader of the 'secret' organization, Ne, walked into his room.

Shimura Danzo.

"Danzo-dono, what can I do for you?" Fugaku asked in his polite yet gruff tone. Danzo simply gave a small chuckle before closing the door and walking towards his desk, causing Fugaku to narrow his eyes, ready to kill the man if need be.

"I know what you have planned, Fugaku…"

* * *

**Saito: All done! How do you like them apples?! Hahaha! Anyway this story will most likely be AU for what is going to happen in future chapters, and we aint telling! Hahahaha!**

**Anyway, hope you guys liked the chapter, now that I have said my piece, I'm handing the mic over to Zari, later, REVIEW!**

**OvO**

**Zari: Thanks for that, Saito. General craziness aside, what my partner in crime mentioned about this story becoming an AU was very true; there's not going to be much in the way of similarities to canon beyond this point. I won't say anything more to avoid spoiling the story, but to any and all readers, you're going to be in for a wild, wild ride.**

**Till next time,**

**ZariGS and Saito Namikaze Reborn, over and OUT!**


	2. Chapter 2

Key:

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**"Higher being speech"**

_**'Higher being thoughts'**_

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Uprise, the Sacrifice, and the Fallen**

Fugaku gazed out over the shinobi and kunoichi assembled before him, and grinned. They'd come quite far in the past month, and it would only be a little bit longer before all their hard work would pay off.

After the Uchiha clan head had finished giving the impression that he was making eye contact with all of his troops, though, his own obsidian orbs alighted upon the clock that was hanging on the eastern wall.

Of course, while it was quite a few meters away from his current position, given the size of the room, he could still see the clock hands quite clearly thanks to his Sharingan; judging from their position, there was only a couple of minutes left before the sun would reach its zenith.

It was time to put the plan into motion.

Deciding it would be best to give a last bit of advice to his forces before each went to do their jobs, Fugaku stepped onto the small podium at the head of the large underground room and cleared his throat.

"Now then, I know you're all anxious to get this show on the road, but don't let that affect your cool. We don't want any slip ups, because even a single one could spell the death of this operation. That being said, if everyone understands their assigned tasks...then MOVE OUT!"

"OSSU!" was the chorused reply, before the bunker was vacated in a mass amount of shunshins.

* * *

A scant few heartbeats later in time and the uprising members had split into small groups, each with their own assigned task within the village walls. Some were simple, like securing a location, while other had the more difficult task of making sure any forms of resistance were put down in their designated area.

But regardless of what they had to do, each group of men and women moved like a well-oiled unit; if one were to take a bird's eye view of Konoha, they would only catch glimpses of the teams as they proceeded to their appointed locations with brutal efficiency, cutting down any and all opposing Ninja who stood in their way.

Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on which side's perspective you took—the first major skirmish between the village defenders and those who were partaking in the coup d'etat happened right in the market district, where many civilians were going about their daily business of buying and selling a variety of goods.

It all happened in an instant; one moment everything was proceeding as usual, the next a combined total of ten Ne operatives and Uchiha clan members were storming through the gaggle of civilians, roughly shoving the noncombatants out of the way while they worked on eliminating any and all off-duty opposing ninja.

One of the Uchiha threw a flurry of kunai and shuriken at an off-duty Konoha shinobi, taking him completely by surprise; moments later said victim slumped towards the ground, dead, after the sharp and pointy objects connected with his upper body, two in his neck and three with his head.

However, before the Uchiha who launched the attack could even smirk at his minor victory he looked up to see one of his comrades protected him from a sneaking loyalist. The first Uchiha kicked the shinobi in the gut before another member of his clan jumped over him, delivering a crushing axe kick to the Konoha ninja's head.

Meanwhile, one Hatake Kakashi rushed out of the book store at the sound of screaming, and watched as the ten unknown assailants were injuring and crippling innocent civilians while striking down any Konoha ninja that were nearby.

The Jounin growled, despising such uncalled for violence, dropping the new book he'd just bought before rushing to join the battle.

Almost as soon as he started moving, though, he saw two ROOT Anbu trying to flank him from on top of the buildings.

Knowing that whatever they were planning to do couldn't be good, Kakashi blurred out of sight whilst simultaneously whipping out a kunai. Only milliseconds later he reappeared, surprising one of the traitors that flanked him by stabbing the ninja in the throat, relinquishing his grip on the now-bloody ninja tool as he turned around to deliver a fast roundhouse kick to the other incoming Ne operative.

Four Konoha Anbu—all of whom had come to see what the commotion was—soon jumped down from one of the nearby buildings and engaged the unknown assailants. Two of them rushed to help the civilians, working on escorting the injured towards the Monument bunkers where the others were headed.

Back with the silver haired Jonin, Kakashi grunted as he pushed against a ROOT Anbu's ninjato before he gave a sweep kick, once again stabbing his opponent in the neck, causing a strangled gurgle to come out from the Ne agent's mouth as blood spilled out from underneath his mask.

As the former Anbu captain was trying to rise, however, he was knocked back with a devastating kick, causing him to yell in pain and crash against a few fruit stands.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!" an Uchiha shouted, blowing out a large ball of fire towards Kakashi's area.

"Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Release: Mud Wall)!" A bird masked Anbu yelled, slamming her hands down on the ground, blocking the fire ball from Kakashi's position.

"Fool! What are you doing?! Doing shit like that will only bring other people's attention to us!" A fellow Uchiha scolded causing the first to scowl.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to kill that bastard! He's too dangerous to leave alive!" The first man yelled before a few shuriken met with his face and neck causing him to fall back, dead before his body hit the ground.

The other Uchiha's eyes widened and he looked forward...only see one of the opposing Anbu run a blade through his heart. The man shook a bit before he fell dead, the Anbu retracting her blade soon after.

Kakashi stood from the rubble and rubbed his back soothingly.

"Are you alright Kakashi-sempai?" Bird asked only for Kakashi to nod before he gave his attention to the remaining the three Uchiha and one Ne operative.

Bird glared at the four under her mask as she looked around the village. The area was an absolute mess; dead bodies littered the street, both civilian and ninja, along with the contents of the merchandise stands that had been knocked over in the conflict. This only caused her to grip her fist in rage and rush at the four with a roar; it was an expected reaction for a rookie.

The Ne operative smirked under his mask before he and an Uchiha rushed at the lunging Anbu. Kakashi's eye widened before he tried moving to help out Bird, but he was blown back by a technique from the lone female of the remaining coup members.

"Suiton: Suiatsujū (Water Release: Water Pressure Gun)!" The Uchiha woman yelled, smirking in satisfaction as her Jutsu hit its mark. Kakashi once again was blown back, but this time into a building.

Bird looked towards Kakashi's position and tried calling out his name, but the Anbu member's distraction cost her; that momentary lapse in concentration was all the Uchiha needed to break her neck with a kick, her body then being shocked by the Ne operative's subsequent lighting jutsu, ultimately killing her.

Tiger and Boar, the two Anbu who were helping the civilians, witnessed their comrade fall and held themselves back from making the same mistake she did. Bird's death only served as a reminder of one of the Shinobi Way's maxims; never let your emotions control you in battle.

Gator however, didn't see any point in hanging back and decided to strike while her opponent was still open. She cut the Uchiha who attacked Kakashi down before ducking and subsequently back handing the last Ne operative.

Gator grunted in pain, though, when a kunai was jabbed in her leg by the Uchiha woman she had previously slashed, before said clanswoman finally died from blood loss, a smirk eternally etched upon her face.

The remaining two Uchiha rushed at Gator but they were forced to pause mid-stride as their bodies suddenly became unresponsive. All they could do in their final moments was look down to see a lighting-charged hand in each of their guts.

These were the hands of the famed Kakashi of the Sharingan, who had used a variant of his original jutsu, Raikō no Nidankōgeki (Lighting Double Strike). His Sharingan and regular eye glared into theirs, before both sets of opposing obsidian orbs eventually dulled as they perished.

Kakashi ripped his hands out of the now-dead ninja, a grimace present on his face as he stared out at the roads littered with the dead bodies of his fellow Konoha Shinobi and the civilians that were caught in the crossfire.

The many stands and barrels that once stood up in the area were now either smoldering or crushed into rubble. With a sigh he brought down his headband over his implanted Sharingan eye and looked towards Gator who was in the process of carefully removing the kunai out of her leg.

Tiger ran up to him as Kakashi began talking, while Boar had already jumped off to help the few remaining civilians.

"I don't know what the hell is going on, but I want you three to continue to escort the civilians and children into the Monument bunkers. I'm going to report to Hokage-sama on the situation. Keep your eyes open." Kakashi ordered before he ran off towards the Hokage tower with a bad feeling in his gut.

As he hopped from roof to roof on his way to the tower, though, he could see different areas filled with Anbu and traitors battling it out. It didn't take long for Kakashi to notice, however, that the assailants were composed entirely of the Uchiha clan and Ne operatives.

_'What the hell is going on?'_ Kakashi thought to himself, sighing once more as he shook his head, anime tears streaming down his face.

_'All I wanted to do was read the new Icha Icha, but noo! Instead I have to deal with this. Why me?!'_ Kakashi cried as he rushed towards the tower.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the academy, the students were thoroughly enjoying another day listening to their teachers drone on about the history of the Elemental Nations. The previous statement, of course, assumes that 'thoroughly enjoying' is actually equivalent to 'being bored out of their minds', but that's beside the point.

Anyways, in Iruka's class most of the kids had fallen asleep partway through the lecture, much to said teacher's annoyance. But just as he was about to pause in his speech and reprimand those who were sleeping, an explosion rocked the building, doing the task for him.

Almost as soon as the shaking stopped, though, a group of enemy ninja rushed into the room, causing most of the girls to start shrieking in fright. Luckily the screams seemed to disorient their attackers just long enough for Iruka and Mizuki to spare enough of a moment to meet each others' eyes, deciding that they would try to stop the group of four Ne Anbu and two Uchiha from harming their charges as best they could.

Now, obviously they held no illusions that they would win such a fight, but the least they could do was try.

"Mizuki! You get the kids to safety!" Iruka yelled as he deflected a kunai sent whizzing towards his throat. Mizuki nodded, running over to the kids, but before he had even made it halfway across the room one of the Uchiha blurred in front of him, swiftly slashing him diagonally across the chest.

The white-haired chunin could only look on in a detached sort of horror as the light slowly dimmed from his eyes, the bifurcating attack causing him to cough up blood and fall back.

The kids could only watch, fear etched onto their faces as their sensei died right in front of them. If they weren't already scared out of their minds, they were now.

"Mizuki-sensei." Shiki whispered to herself as Naruto stood in front of her protectively. Suddenly a group of Anbu appeared in the room with a shunshin, two of them going to help Iruka dispose of the Ne operatives, while one of them went over to the kids and the final member fended off the two Uchiha.

"Itachi! We always knew you would be a traitor!" Yashiro Uchiha yelled as he pushed against Itachi's blade. Itachi remained silent before he ducked under the second Uchiha's attack and back-flipped out of a kneeing attack made by Yashiro.

"The only traitors I see around here are you guys." Itachi replied in monotone before he looked at Bear, motioning for the Anbu member to get the kids out of the area. Bear nodded, breaking through what remained of the northern wall before telling the kids to run towards the Hokage monument.

The kids did so as Itachi lunged at Yashiro, the loyal Uchiha simultaneously trying to keep his eyes on the second traitor.

Said Uchiha noticed the kids getting away and smirked. He was about to go help Yashiro when he caught sight of a mop of red hair. Realizing that only one little girl possessed red hair in the entire village, he lunged for the girl, snatching her from the blonde boy that held her hand.

"ANIKI!" Shiki screamed for her brother. Naruto whipped around and saw his sister being carried off.

"SHIKI!" Naruto yelled back and lunged at the Uchiha to get back his sister. The boy saw some random Kunai littered on the floor and picked them up before resuming his lunge at the Uchiha.

The man moved his head from an oncoming Kunai, and, thinking that it was probably one of the Anbu or Chunin, he slashed down. He however didn't realize that it was really the twin of the girl he now held, who had jumped up to grab his sister.

Naruto half screamed and half roared in pain as his eyes were slashed at, effectively blinding him. A large horizontal slash could be seen across his eyes, blood dripping downwards from the wound.

Itachi turned his head from the dying Yashiro to see Naruto on the floor gripping at his face while screaming in pain, while a stunned, wide eyed and squirming Shiki was being carried by the second Uchiha. Said man merely grimaced at what his instinctive reaction had done.

"Damn, you are no use to Fugaku-sama without your eyes...I'd be better off just killing you than trying to explain why such a mistake happened..." The man muttered as he moved towards Naruto's still-writhing form. Shiki heard him but was still in shock, unable to warn her brother of the impending threat.

Itachi cursed as he rushed forward, knowing that he probably wouldn't make it in time. Even as he started pumping more and more chakra into his legs, the teen still saw that he wouldn't make it.

_'Hold on Naruto, just hold on!'_ Itachi roared in his head, but the other Uchiha's blade was already descending in its downward arc towards the boy's head. Itachi suddenly focused on the man's hand, and with a grimace he could feel some kind of liquid running down his left cheek.

But imagine both his and the coup member's surprise when a black flame coated the latter's hand, causing the man to scream in pain and drop Shiki who tumbled to the ground. Itachi was shocked at what happened, but steeled his resolve and promptly beheaded the man in front of a wide-eyed Shiki.

Blood splattered all over the ground and desks. Itachi took a deep breath and grabbed his head a bit before shaking it and looked towards Naruto who was still whimpering in pain and Shiki who was pale as a ghost.

Itachi then looked towards the remaining Anbu operatives and Iruka, both of whom weren't doing so good. It seemed that the Ne members had brought in reinforcements and were overwhelming the Anbu and Chunin.

"Shiki, stay here with your brother okay? I'll be right back." Itachi told the girl, getting a shaky nod of understanding as a reply.

With that said, Itachi rushed back into battle to help his fellow loyalists. Sparks flew as the young teen's blade met with others of its kind, all while he dodged and ducked around punches and kicks.

Both of the fighting Anbu were eventually cut down by the Ne operatives, while Iruka was knocked back, nearly being stabbed as a result. Luckily Itachi managed to make it to the chunin's side in time, plunging his blade through the ROOT agent's heart before pulling it out.

However his attention was then given to two more of the Ne operatives, who were just a feet away from Naruto and Shiki by the broken exit. Now, given the distance between them, Itachi knew for a fact he would not be able to reach the twins in time.

But perhaps, just perhaps, he could use that strange fire Jutsu that he'd called upon earlier - somehow he knew it was called Amaterasu - to incinerate all or at least part of his opponents.

Concentrating and focusing on the two Ne ninja's, Itachi's three tomoe Sharingan quickly turned into a three bladed pinwheel.

"Amaterasu!" Itachi yelled, black flames appearing on the two men's backs. They screamed in agony, dropping to the ground and rolling around frantically, trying desperately to put out the flames, but to no avail. It quickly burned through their clothes before engulfing their entire bodies, killing them in the process.

Itachi and Iruka watched in amazement, awed at the mass amount of power that Jutsu had. Shaking his head slightly from fatigue, the former stumbled over to Naruto and Shiki before doing his best to check them over. Shiki was still in a state of shock, but that was to be expected given the traumatic events of the past few minutes. Otherwise, though, she was pretty much unharmed. However, Naruto on the other hand hadn't been so lucky.

The wounds around his eyes were already healing up thanks to his tenant, but his eyes themselves...those bright blue orbs of his would now forever remain blind.

Itachi gave a large grimace, knowing that the young boy had done nothing to deserve such a fate. He'd only wanted to save his sister, after all. But just as the young teen was about to stand up and call over Iruka, a blade pierced through the center of his chest with an audible squelch.

Blood dribbled out of the corner of his mouth, his eyes wide and in pain. Iruka was both shocked and confused as to what had just happened while Shiki was screaming her Nii-san's name.

Itachi however could only hear the slowing thump of his own heart, his life flashing before his eyes. His time with his mother, Sasuke, the twins, his missions in Anbu, even his precious moments with his father.

The blade retracted from Itachi's chest as the teen feel to the ground with a thud. The wielder of the blade turned out to be Inabi Uchiha, one of the Uchiha's who really didn't care for Itachi nor the teen's best friend, Shisui.

"That felt good." Inabi smirked and looked down to the two twins. Naruto heard his sister scream for Itachi and was now wide awake, trying to figure out what was going on without his sight.

Shiki was crying and shaking Itachi's prone still body. Inabi was about to speak, but before he could a hail of kunai and shuriken met his throat, causing him to merely gurgle a bit before falling over dead. The last sight he ever saw was the angry Mangekyou Sharingan eyes of Shisui Uchiha, who was standing in the doorway.

Said teen rushed into the room and fell down onto his knees, staring at his best friend's body.

"Shi-Shisui." Itachi whispered his friends name. Shisui shook his head vehemently, telling Itachi to quit talking so he could rest for a bit before the medics came.

"There is no point, Shisui. I will die before help arrives; I can feel it. But when I do, my eyes, give them to Naruto-kun, he could use them more than me." Itachi told his friend with a humorless chuckle, his voice starting to die out.

Naruto heard Itachi's statement and shook his head.

"No! I won't take your eyes Nii-san, they belong to you!" Naruto told him, as he 'looked' down at Itachi's chest. Itachi was quiet for a moment before he spoke, gaining some energy to do so, though his vision was quickly fading.

"Please take them Naruto, they belong to you now. Think of them as a present to remember me by. And Shiki, I'm sorry that I have nothing to give you in my final moments, though I wish I did." Itachi muttered before he rushed his next sentence.

"Shisui, tell my mother to take care of the twins and Sasuke. And tell my father, I hope he got what he wished for." Itachi gave one sad smirk before taking his dying breath, the lights of his eyes finally fading.

Shiki shook Itachi's body to try and keep her beloved Nii-san awake, but he wouldn't open his eyes and it scared her. Shisui was emotionless, as he watched his friend die right before him. He looked towards Naruto, the boy was silent, but tears were streaming down from the corners of his now-blind eyes.

The Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan gazed back down to Itachi's dead eyes before taking a deep breath to calm himself. The man looked around the room to find a jar of some sort, finding one filled with peanuts on the shelf next to the teachers desk.

Shisui quickly stood up and grabbed the jar, dumping the nuts out onto the floor before washing it with a water Jutsu. After rinsing it thoroughly to remove all the salt, Shisui put some more water in it before he went back over to Itachi's dead body.

The teen carefully channeled chakra into his fingers and told Shiki to close her eyes, which she did. As carefully and gently as he could, Shisui pulled out Itachi's eyeballs and placed them into the water filled jar for later.

Shisui then walked over to Iruka and handed him the jar before speaking.

"You can walk right?" The man asked. Iruka nodded and stood.

"Good, I want you to take these two into the bunkers and to the medics. Have them transplant Itachi's eyes into Naruto immediately or it will be useless." Shisui ordered.

"What about you?" Iruka asked and Shisui looked towards the Hokage monument before he spoke.

"I have to talk with that bastard Fugaku. But you go, hurry! I'm pretty sure the coast is clear." Shisui told him. Iruka gave a nod and ignored the pain in his thighs and arms as he grabbed Shiki and Naruto, putting them onto his back.

After they were safely secured, the scarred Chunin ran to the bunkers of the Hokage monument.

Shisui watched over them from afar before he gave a nod and made his way towards the Hokage tower.

He would make sure Fugaku would pay.

* * *

_'Minato...what would you have done in this sort of situation? The Will of Fire is almost extinguished, cut off from its oxygen supply by the flames of hatred and greed...what would you do to rekindle it? Or would you even bother, given that this might be some form of divine retribution for our negligence and mistreatment of your children...?'_

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood at the window in his office, his gaze roaming over the village he had loved and cherished for so many years of his life as he contemplated such a question.

In truth, he knew he probably could have done more for Minato and Kushina's kids; he really didn't have a reasonable excuse for his lack of effort, other than that the civilian council had stood in his path every time he'd tried to help Naruto and Shiki out.

Even to his own ears, though, that sounded more like a defeated old man's attempt to justify his wrongdoings than anything else.

And considering that the twins had been scorned, isolated, and hated by Konoha's populace, all from the very day they were born, it was hard to justify that he'd even done anything to help them at all. Sure, there might have been a few situations where it was obvious that he'd helped them out, but beyond giving the twins an apartment and a monthly stipend to live off of—both of which were gifts he gave to every orphan who was in the academy—hardly any of said attempts could be considered worth the effort needed to make them.

Unfortunately, in hindsight it almost seemed as if he'd been _trying _to make Naruto and Shiki have miserable lives; his intent might have been noble, admirable even, but in the end he'd done a lot more harm than good with his feeble attempts to help the twins. Because, while they currently lived within the village walls, Hiruzen knew for a fact that they didn't consider Konoha to be their home.

And once word of the lies he'd fed them got out, well...they would no doubt hate it for all it was worth.

Ultimately, though, the Sandaime could only hope that they never learned he'd been keeping secrets from them. For if they did, Konohagakure no Sato was doomed.

That is, if it wasn't already.

Truth to be told, Hiruzen had no idea whether or not Konoha would survive the coup d'etat that was currently going on, because if the Uchiha didn't kill off all of its forces, one of the other hidden villages would undoubtedly catch wind of this catastrophe and declare war upon them.

Thus was the reason why the eldest Sarutobi had yet to enter the fight; you could call him selfish, but he didn't want to be the one leading Konoha into yet another war. His old bones were tired, after all.

However, despite the dark times that seemed to be looming upon the horizon, Hiruzen knew that there was still a chance for Konoha to become the way it once was.

Back during the Nidaime's reign its people lacked all of the hatred they now carried; it was still possible for the withered trunk to reform, to return to the benevolent and peaceful Shinobi village it once was.

Granted, while the probability of such an occurrence actually coming to pass was infinitesimally small, it was still there.

And that is what mattered.

It all depended upon the younger generation; Konoha was in their hands now, as his own time had already passed. It might not happen in the next year, or perhaps not even in the next ten years, but if those still in the Academy held true to the ideals they'd been taught so far then there was a chance that the Konoha he'd known and loved would return.

It was a gamble, a bet against impossible odds, but what other choice did he have then to take that chance?

He would believe in the new generation, hoping that they would remember his teachings even if he did not survive to see Konoha restored to its former glory. Naruto, Shiki, the sons and daughters of the clan heads; those were the people in which he would place his trust. And while he held little hope of surviving the coming conflict, perhaps that was for the best. He'd lived a long, healthy life, after all.

Extending out his senses, he could feel Fugaku and a few others' chakra signatures approaching his position. While he was by no means a sensor type ninja, he'd practiced the exercises to the point where he might as well have been one; as it was he could tell that they would probably arrive in around twenty minutes or so, which gave him plenty of time for what he had in mind.

He called on three shadow clones and nodded to them. They all nodded back and started rushing around the office, sealing up a variety of hidden scrolls that were scattered around the room. The original, meanwhile, sat at his desk and pulled out some blank paper from one of the drawers before he began to write.

The clones continued their task for about eight or nine more minutes, sealing up smaller scrolls into larger ones until all they had left was one big scroll. Once Hiruzen was done writing he sealed his letter within the scroll as well before he summoned a monkey that bowed to him.

"Is there something you need, Hiruzen-sama?" The monkey asked. Hiruzen nodded handing the monkey the big scroll.

"I want you to give that scroll to the toad elder, Fukusaku, and make sure he gets it to Jiraiya; it is for Naruto and Shiki to open when they sign the toad contract. Please hurry." Hiruzen pleaded.

The monkey looked confused for a moment before eventually nodding, dispelling itself soon after. With a sigh, Hiruzen took off his formal Hokage robes and folded them neatly on the table, leaving him adorned in his shinobi armor.

Using the summoning Jutsu again, he called upon Enma, the king of the monkey clan and one of his oldest friends. The white haired monkey looked at Sarutobi with confusion in his eyes after finding himself in the Hokage's office.

"Hiruzen? What is going on here? Why have you summoned me?" Enma asked. Hiruzen smiled sadly at his friend before he spoke.

"I will need your help in the upcoming battle, as it may be my last. Konoha is on the verge of being taken over, and I must stop the leader, or at least attempt to." Hiruzen told the monkey king who looked surprised.

"Who is it?" He asked, glancing out the office window at a deserted Konoha. Enma could tell that the civilians had already been evacuated, and with good reason; he could spot a few fires here and there, as well as the remains of more than a few once-proud buildings.

"The Uchiha, along with Danzo and his ROOT ninja. They pulled off their coup d'etat to an extent, though I don't think they were expecting as much resistance as the rest of my ninja gave." The Sandaime answered in a monotone. Enma didn't expect this news and glared towards the door, a group of 6 ninja on their way.

"Well then, I will do my best. Like you, I am an old monkey, remember?" Enma smirked and Hiruzen chuckled.

"That you are Enma." Hiruzen told the monkey king, who nodded and transformed into his Adamantine staff form. With a sigh he watched as the door flew open revealing a smirking Fugaku in Uchiha armor, his Sharingan activated.

"So have you given up, Hokage-sama?" Fugaku mocked. Hiruzen snorted before he spoke.

"No I have not. Even though the fire may be extinguishing, it still burns bright within me, Fugaku!" Hiruzen glared. Fugaku rolled his eyes before he spoke.

"When will you get it old man? The 'Will of Fire' is no more. Look at your village! Look at what it is becoming, all this because you carry Senju ideals. The Uchiha are the strongest and the real idealists, that is why I will become Hokage, and you will die here today." Fugaku glared back, his Sharingan spinning.

Hiruzen took a deep breath before getting into a ready stance. The ninja around Fugaku also slid into a battle stance, ready to fight. Fugaku just crossed his arms and smirked.

With a nod from the Uchiha clan head, the five Uchiha charged at Hiruzen who simply barged out the office window and ran to the top of the tower.

"After him!" Fugaku shouted as he and the others followed Hiruzen, coming to a halt when they saw their opponent with his back to them. While the Uchiha band couldn't exactly see the aging Kage's face, they could tell that he was watching the village with a mournful expression. His attention was soon brought to the traitors, however, when they threw Shuriken and Kunai at him.

Hiruzen dodged them with ease before he rushed at the closest opponent, who foolishly tried to match him. The Sandaime gripped his staff and thrust it forward, allowing Enma to reach out of his staff form with an arm and claw the man to bits before retracting the appendage. This allowed Hiruzen to swing his partner and hit another Uchiha in the stomach, sending the man skidding to the edge of the tower.

With the loss of one of his men thanks to Enma, Fugaku decided to join in on the fight this time, blowing out a large fireball at the most opportune moment.

Hiruzen merely back-flipped out of the way, forming hand signs mid-air and completing them upon landing on the rooftop once again. Almost as soon as his feet touched down, though, a large mud wall formed in front of him, blocking the fiery projectile that would otherwise have burnt him to a crisp.

Unbeknownst to Fugaku, however, his earlier series of hand signs had been for two techniques, not one. Planting his hands against the newly made earth structure, he called out his second Jutsu.

"Doton: Dosekiryū!" The Sandaime shouted, as a Dragon made out mud and earth formed from the wall and flew towards Fugaku. Said man dodged the attack, rolling out of the way while throwing two windmill shuriken at the old Kage.

Of course, the Sandaime knew he had to be wary around Uchiha's and their windmill toys, as they loved to sneakily attach ninja wire to those in order to ensnare their opponents. He knew that they would then turn him or anyone else caught in such a situation into ash with their fire Jutsu.

So, with that thought in mind, Hiruzen blocked the first while he flipped over the second and threw some regular shuriken at the three standing Uchiha.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" the Hokage yelled, increasing the amount of whirling metal by roughly tenfold. However, his attention soon drifted to the man he'd knocked away earlier, trading blows with that one for a bit. Scarcely seconds into the scuffle, though, he heard a synchronized shout of,

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

From the corner of his eyes, Sarutobi watched as the fire melted his many shuriken before the flames came for him. Quickly thinking on his feet, Hiruzen swept the legs of the ninja he was fighting out from underneath his body, drop kicking him into the oncoming flames before hopping back. Clasping his hands together after completing a quick series of hand signs, the old man called out his next Jutsu.

"Earth style: Earth dome!" He yelled, as a dome of earth came over him and protected him from the flames.

Fugaku growled, annoyed that he was now down to three men besides himself. He nodded to the dome, indicating he wanted two of them to go drag the old Hokage out.

The clan head kept his eyes narrowed, though, watching as earth spikes were molded around the dome before being shot out, busting through one man's chest while the other was grazed on his arm.

Fugaku immediately charged with the other Uchiha who had remained behind, their Sharingan's anticipating the Sandaime's attack patterns. Hiruzen broke through the dome and blurred through hand signs, a little to fast for the Uchiha with Fugaku, while the latter barely caught what Jutsu his opponent was going to use. As it was, he was barely able to move out the way before Hiruzen performed his technique.

"Doton: Doryū Taiga!" The Hokage yelled, as the roof underneath both of Fugaku's men turned into a running river of mud. Hiruzen then went through more hand signs.

"Doton: Doryūdan!" A dragon formed from the mud river, shooting out a flurry of hard thick mud bullets as Hiruzen blew out a stream of flame, setting the projectiles on fire.

Fugaku watched in anger as his remaining men were killed. He charged at Hiruzen only for his Sharingan to catch the flare of chakra from his right.

Looking towards that area, however, revealed another Hiruzen, this one blurring through hand signs and blowing out a wild stream of fire after he'd completed the required sequence.

"Katon: Karyū Endan!" The Hokage clone yelled. Fugaku smirked, racing through his own series of hand signs.

"Katon: Karyū Endan!" The Uchiha patriarch yelled, his fire technique clashing with Hiruzen's. The two flames pushed against each other for a short time before eventually cancelling each other out, their respective wielders engaging in a Taijutsu match almost immediately after.

Unfortunately, this proved to be somewhat of a costly mistake, at least for the elder of the two. Hiruzen was having a hard time keeping up with and blocking all of Fugaku's strikes, due to both the latter's Sharingan and his own old age.

He had avoided using Taijutsu since the beginning of this battle for this very reason; his aging body just wouldn't allow him to be as agile and precise as he was in his prime.

In the end, though, it came to a point where Fugaku managed to push Hiruzen back with a round kick to the side, making the Hokage grunt in pain and skid a ways away. The Uchiha smirked arrogantly as he spoke.

"Give up old man, it's over! You can't win! Just look at Konoha!" Fugaku pointed out. He was a little upset that the coup d'etat had stretched on longer than he'd initially anticipated, but ultimately it had been successful so far. All he had to do now for the plan to be complete was either kill the Sandaime or have him give up.

Needless to say, he would prefer for the former to happen.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen scowled as he stared out at the remains of his once-proud village. Dead bodies of his ninja and innocent civilians lay in the streets, while some buildings had been reduced to piles of rubble.

And if that weren't enough, other structures were slowly being consumed by fire, the flames taking over those houses and institutes just like the Uchiha clan had gained control of the village itself. He could also see acrid smoke start to darken the sky, wafting upwards as it polluted the otherwise clean air.

Ultimately, the Hokage couldn't help but let a defeated grimace cross over his face, though his glare hardened as he gazed back at a still smirking Fugaku.

Ever since he'd been ensconced in his mud dome, the Sandaime's plan had been to use the same technique his successor had, in order to summon the Shinigami.

The Shiki Fuujin.

But as the battle wore on, and the more he considered such a course of action, the less he liked his chances of pulling it off. After all, in order for it to actually work the target had to be completely still; a fact which was easier said than done with Fugaku having the Sharingan at his disposal.

Not to mention that his old bones were aching after moving so quickly in such a short amount of time. Furthermore, that particular technique would end up killing both of them in the end, if he even managed to complete it, that is.

And with Danzo helping out in the coup d'etat...that would mean the old war hawk would be the one to end up in the Hokage position, a fact which left Hiruzen even more hesitant to go through with summoning the Shinigami than he already was.

All things considered, it seemed as if such a course of action would do more harm than good, at least to Konoha as a whole. And as Hokage, it was his job to make sure his village and all in it were kept safe, even if that meant giving his own life or stepping down as Hokage. He'd sworn an oath to do what must be done, after all.

"You may have won this battle, Fugaku. But the fire still burns greatly. Even if you were to kill me, Fugaku, the pillar would not crumble. I am the man who inherited the will of Konoha, the will of the First and Second. I am the Third Hokage! No matter how much you damage and ruin Konoha, there will be a new Hokage who'll inherit my will...and become the pillar to protect this village!" Sarutobi shouted with conviction.

Fugaku frowned and growled under his breath.

"Fugaku-sama!" three Ne operatives called out, appearing along with Danzo on the roof behind the Uchiha patriarch.

"I guess you will still be a fool till the bitter end...such a pity. I want him arrested, his chakra sealed and thrown into solitary confinement until further notice." Fugaku ordered.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." The Ne saluted before they detained a silent Hiruzen who glared at Danzo. The war hawk merely returned the Sandaime's gaze with an even stare, his face impassive.

"I guess you finally got what you wanted, eh Danzo? Konoha is now submerged in your ideals, good luck with that and the wars that are sure to come." Sarutobi stated. Danzo opened an eye and glared at his rival.

"You are foolish, Hiruzen. Foolish and weak. That is why you are being detained now, because of your silly way of thinking, because you were so childish and naïve." Danzo scoffed. Hiruzen simply closed his eyes before he spoke.

"When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew." Hiruzen told them before opening his eyes, a small smirk on his face.

_'Farewell, Naruto-kun, Shiki-chan. I wish you both the best...and I hope that the two of you find happiness; the will of fire burns greatly within you.'_ Hiruzen thought to himself, a single tear falling from his eye.

Before the Ne members could slap a chakra suppressing seal on him, Hiruzen raised his right hand in a familiar sign, a small smile adorned on his face.

"Goodbye, Fugaku, Danzo. KATSU!" Hiruzen yelled, as the paper bomb taped onto chest glowed bright before exploding, bringing the Ne members into oblivion with him. Danzo and Fugaku covered their eyes as debris and smoke blew past them.

The two frowned at what just happened, the elder giving off a small sigh. Hiruzen just couldn't let him enjoy his victory could he?

Danzo smirked as a thought came to his head.

_'Then again, at least I have the Mangekyou Sharingan in my possession.'_

* * *

**Sometime earlier**

Shisui ran and hopped over buildings, making his way towards the Hokage tower.

"Shisui!"

The teen turned his head to see Kakashi Hatake running towards him, nodding to the man as he fell in step alongside the Uchiha.

"I'm glad that you're on our side; any clue what's going on?" Kakashi asked Itachi's friend. Shisui sighed before giving a fierce glare in the direction of the tower.

"Fugaku is going through with his coup d'etat. He plans on disposing of Hokage-sama and taking over Konoha. I just came from the academy." Shisui told Kakashi.

"What happened?" The Jounin asked, noticing the Uchiha's dark look.

"The Anbu got the children out of there, thankfully, but one of the Uchiha, from what I know, tried capturing Shiki Uzumaki, blinding Naruto when he tried to save her. Itachi interfered, though died trying to protect them. He was killed by that prick Inabi, before I arrived and returned the favor." Shisui explained.

Kakashi frowned in response. Itachi was a valuable ninja and a good person, he hoped that the teen didn't die in vain. His thoughts then turned to the Uzumaki twins.

"What about Naruto and Shiki? Are they okay?" He asked, more than a little concerned for their health. Shisui was silent before he stopped, along with Kakashi.

"Physically, the two are safe, as I had Iruka carry them to the monument bunkers. But mentally...Kakashi, I'll be frank with you; I highly doubt they're anywhere close to being mentally stable, especially Shiki. While Naruto was blinded by one of my _clansmen_," He spat the last word as if it would somehow burn his tongue,

"She saw it all; three deaths in quick succession, and one of them was Itachi's. Considering how close the twins were to my best friend..." Shisui trailed off, leaving the silver-haired Jonin to draw his own conclusions.

Both ninja were silent for about a minute, before the Uchiha spoke up again.

"Listen Kakashi, I want you to do me a favor." Shisui said.

"Before his death, Itachi wanted to give Naruto his eyes, his Sharingan in particular. Itachi's Sharingan is special, just like mine; it's the Mangekyou Sharingan. In other words, the fourth stage to the Sharingan which grants the user more power." Shisui informed.

"So Naruto now has this Mangekyou Sharingan?" Kakashi asked, getting a nod as a reply.

"Yes, and in both eyes. The problem is that I will most likely die today; if not during battle, then most likely at one of my fellow Uchiha's hands in the aftermath for being a 'traitor to the clan'." The Uchiha sighed, wondering if what he'd done was for the best.

"At the moment, you are the only person I can trust that can teach Naruto how to use the Sharingan without him becoming corrupted in the end. And considering that he now has the powers of my own Mangekyou on top of Itachi's, such a possibility is far more probable than I would like it to be."

"Wait a sec. How does he have the powers of your eyes if you still have them?" Kakashi asked, slightly confused as to how such a thing was possible.

"I gave him my Mangekyou by channeling chakra through my fingers as I removed Itachi's eyes; whether that was a good idea or not, though, I'm not certain at this point. But anyways, please, if nothing else, watch over him and make sure he doesn't become arrogant like the remaining Uchiha. I've been around Itachi long enough to know that that's something he'd never want." Shisui stated.

Kakashi gave a nod, promising to not only help Naruto, but Shiki as well; they were his sensei's children, after all. He just hoped that this wouldn't blow up in his face later.

Shisui nodded in thanks before they continued on to the Hokage tower. However, once they landed in the correct area they both stopped, seeing as there was someone blocking their path.

"Shisui Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake, what a pleasant surprise." Danzo commented dryly. Shisui and Kakashi glared at the ancient man, anger simmering in their eyes.

"Danzo Shimura, you are the next person on my to-kill list, right below Fugaku. You will both pay for this; Itachi died because of you two!" Shisui yelled, causing Danzo to raise a brow.

"Really? That's a small surprise. I'm guessing you want to join him? Well come on then." Danzo smirked as he dropped his cane and loosened his robes.

Once he was ready, the two Sharingan users lunged at Danzo who pulled out a kunai and channeled wind chakra into it. Shisui unsheathed his tanto before clashing blades with Danzo.

Kakashi slid to the elder's left and jumped, ready to lash out with a kick. Danzo ducked under the leg sent his way and tried sweeping Shisui off his feet, but the teen was gone with a body flicker before the attack could connect.

Danzo kept his eyes peeled, wary for any sign of movement, before he deflected the kunai and shuriken Kakashi threw at him. Directly after his metallic assault, the silver-haired Jonin charged at Danzo, clashing blades and fists. This, however, occupied the warhawk long enough for Shisui to grab him by the back of his hair and throw him away from the entrance to the Hokage Tower.

Danzo flipped, righting himself in mid-air, before skillfully blocking another barrage of punches from Kakashi.

As he was pressing his attack, though, the ex-Anbu captain idly wondered how Danzo still had the use of his right arm; he knew for a fact that the old man had lost it in the third Great War.

Unfortunately, the most he could gather while fighting was that it was sickly grayish in color, before he had to jump away from Shisui's attempted surprise attack.

Said teen had body flickered behind Danzo and tried kicking him in the back, only to find that his target had flipped to the side, finishing a sequence of hand signs as he landed back on the ground.

"Fūton: Shinkūha!" The eldest of the three shouted, jumping into the air and spinning around. Shisui growled in annoyance, blurring through hand signs in order to blow out four consecutive fire balls at Danzo.

The wind met with the flames, fanning and increasing them to much greater proportions. Danzo cursed himself for overlooking this, before coughing in pain as a fist met his gut. He was then kneed in the face before being thrown away by Kakashi.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" The two men yelled, blowing out a series of flames towards Danzo who used his vacuum great sphere to deflect it. He then rushed over to Kakashi's position and back handed the man before blowing him away with a Futon: Daitoppa, causing said Jonin to crash into a nearby building, unconscious.

Shisui bit back another growl at his comrade's unconsciousness and body flickered once more, trying to punch Danzo in the face when he reappeared. Sadly, the war hawk was prepared for this maneuver, moving his head out of the way before hopping back, Shisui hot on his tail.

They played a sort of tag-like game for a while, at least until the Uchiha raised his Tanto and gave a downward slice, hoping to at least wound his opponent. Danzo, however, saw this as the perfect opportunity to relieve the Uchiha of his weapon, managing to catch the blade between his hands and snapping it in a show of strength.

The elder then jumped back with a back-flip, clocking a surprised Shisui in the chin.

Shisui wiped his lip with a frown. He had a high tolerance for pain, so he didn't feel much from that kick, but that didn't mean he would be able to last for hours against Danzo; he needed to end this fight, and quickly.

Danzo watched as the Uchiha teen's normal Sharingan eyes started spinning before they morphed into some kind of four-pointed buzz saw. Shisui frowned mentally when he realized that using Kotoamatsukami was out of the question for the moment, as he'd used that earlier against a squad of Ne and Uchiha, telling them to kill themselves.

He tried concentrating; searching for any other technique he may have gained but frowned when he couldn't find any. Though perhaps during battle he would be able to unlock another...

Of course, there was only one way to find that sort of thing out.

With that thought in mind, Shisui lunged at Danzo who snorted and rushed towards him as well. The two clashed with their fists before engaging in a Taijutsu match, both matching their opponent blow for blow. This continued on for a while, eventually coming to the point where they both decided to spring away at the same moment and resume using Ninjutsu.

Danzo went through hand signs and Shisui swiftly copied him with his Dojutsu, each side shouting out the Jutsu as they finished within milliseconds of the other.

"Fūton: Shinkū Renpa!" The two blew out several large blades of wind while moving their heads. Each wind blade either clashed with each other, or the two dodged them, allowing the missed blades to crash into something.

The two ran towards each other, once again doing the same hand signs.

"Fūton: Shinkūgyoku!" The two shouted, blowing out several large spheres of compressed wind towards each other. The spheres crashed against each other or grazed the two men, who whipped out Kunai and clashed with each other, leaping around and charging at one another.

This kept going on for about three minutes before the two leapt back and threw the Kunai at their opponent, only for the sharp objects to bounce off one another, flying off in different directions.

The two men panted, feeling winded; each knew that this battle was going nowhere, and probably wouldn't get anywhere. Shisui glanced to Kakashi's position to see he was still unconscious. Danzo kept his eye trained on Shisui, wondering what kind of Sharingan that was.

The elder had his suspicions but wasn't quite sure. If it truly was the Mangekyou sharingan, then he would be really lucky. Shisui glared at Danzo who decided to get moving again.

The man's sharingan read the hand signs Danzo was doing and followed suit once more. The two crouched and ran towards each other, calling out the Jutsu they were using.

"Wind release: Slash!" The two chanted, a flurry of wind taking shape around their hand, looking like a blade. The Uchiha and elder quickened their pace to be faster than the other.

_'Today you die, Danzo! And Fugaku is next!'_ Shisui thought in anger, while Danzo narrowed his eye as he ran.

_'I will have your sharingan, I will.'_ Danzo thought, his eye gazing into Shisui's strange sharingan state.

The two raised their arms and slashed at each other, crossing paths. The two stood stock still with their arms out, hair overshadowing their eyes.

Danzo grunted in pain as his right arm fell off from the socket, blood splurting out everywhere. The old man fell onto his knee's, gripping his shoulder trying to hold in his roar of pain.

Sweat beaded down his head as he tried calming his emotions, his heart thumping in his ears.

Blood flew and splashed out diagonally from Shisui's chest. The Uchiha fell on his knee's, his eyes reverting back to normal while blood dribbled from the corner of his lip. The teen fell onto his stomach, taking very shallow breaths.

He barely had enough strength left, but enough to lift his arm and channel chakra into his fingers. He carefully yet brutally ripped out his left eye and crushed it, he only gave a small grunt, still thankful for his high tolerance of pain.

His hand dropped to the ground, as he took shallow breaths before he raised his arm again to pluck out his right eye and crush it. However, before he could even grasp it, a foot stomped onto his hand stopping him from finishing his plan.

Shisui's right eye looked up to see a glaring Danzo, blood still dripping out from his arm.

"I can't and won't let you do that." Danzo stated. Shisui remained silent before his eye settled onto to Kakashi's barely lidded eyes. Shisui mustered up enough chakra to form his Mangekyou. As if on instinct, Shisui used his evolved doujutsu's powerful ability, the Kotoamatsukami.

The Uchiha planted one final thought into Kakashi's head before he took his last breath.

_'Protect Shiki and Naruto.'_

With that done Shisui's body slumped as he took his last breath, the Sharingan reverting back to his usual onyx color.

_'Guess I'll be seeing you sooner than I thought, Itachi, Obito.'_ Shisui thought one last time before he finally died, a small smile on his face.

Danzo watched Shisui take his last breath and sighed in relief, dropping to his knees taking deep breaths. In his left hand was his disconnected arm which he placed next to his right shoulder. The man channeled chakra into it, allowing it to eventually connect back with his body.

He flexed his right hand a bit before pulling out a jar that was filled with water and at least 15 active Sharingan eyes. The elder collected them from fallen Uchiha before he came here to see if he could help Fugaku beat Hiruzen.

Danzo carefully plucked out Shisui's right eye before adding it to the contents of the jar. Standing up, he sealed the jar back into his left arm before he looked towards the unconscious Kakashi.

He considered taking Kakashi's eye and finishing him but his musings were cut short when a group of Ne members ran up to him.

"Danzo-sama, are you okay?" the leader of the group asked. Danzo nodded before suggesting they go help Fugaku.

_'It's finally mine, the Mangekyou Sharingan...at least I hope it is.'_ Danzo thought to himself as he and his men ran up the Hokage tower towards the fighting Sarutobi and Uchiha patriarch.

* * *

**Present Time**

Fugaku stared out across the damaged village of Konoha from atop the Hokage tower, musing on past happenings while he waited for the populace to assemble in the square below. It was only moments ago that he'd sent out the order for all remaining Ne and Uchiha members to go collect the remaining civilians and detain their guards, so the Uchiha-turned-Hokage still had some time on his hands.

Truthfully, he was aware of the fact that, had Danzo not supported him in his endeavors, the coup d'etat would most likely have failed. As such, while he loathed admitting it, he now owed a fairly large debt to the bandaged elder.

Unfortunately, that was a circumstance which he would rather not be placed in; he had nothing against the old warhawk, obviously, but Fugaku knew the man was far more crafty and secretive than he let on.

Was gaining control of Konoha worth being indebted to such a person? Fugaku wasn't certain.

Ultimately, though, the Uchiha decided that it was the best course of action at the moment. He would try to find a way to be rid of the debt over his head later. For now he just focused on what his first course of action as Hokage would be.

But as he stared over the village he couldn't help but think back to that meeting he had with Danzo not that long ago.

* * *

**Flashback, one month ago**

Fugaku froze before his eye's narrowed, though he calmed his features. To say the least Danzo was impressed but remained silent.

"Whatever do you mean, Danzo-dono?" Fugaku asked. Danzo gave a small smirk in response.

"Why your coup d'état of course." Danzo stated, earning a glare from Fugaku's blazing Sharingan.

"And how exactly did you find out?" Fugaku demanded calmly. He was sure he got rid of all loose ends, covered his tracks, kept the meetings on the down low, so how did he find out?

"I have my ways. But if you really want to know, it was Itachi. He went to see Hiruzen yesterday night and explained everything. Thanks to the seal I placed in the room, I was able to hear everything." Danzo explained.

Fugaku's glare hardened even more once he heard it was his own son who sold him out. This meant that that fool Hiruzen knew he was coming and what he planned. This did not sit well with him at all.

"And what do you plan on doing? I'm surprised you haven't done something about it, considering I am a threat to Konoha." Fugaku reminded. Danzo nodded.

"While that is true, your coup may be what I need to get my ideals to cover over Konoha. My original plan was to send a squad of Ne and slay down all members of your arrogant clan. But that would put me in the spot light for the time being and I can't have that." Danzo answered.

Fugaku remained silent as he listened to the old war hawk.

"So I then thought, 'Why not help Fugaku out?' as that plan would surely help both I and you." Danzo smirked. Fugaku narrowed his eyes in response.

"And what do you want in return? Surely this is not just to help me out." Fugaku stated with a humorless smirk. Danzo chuckled, giving a nod.

"Correct. What I want, is those." Danzo stated, pointing his cane at Fugaku's eyes. The owner of the Sharingan eyes stood up with a growl.

"Forget it! Why should I sacrifice my clan members' sharingan to you?!" Fugaku growled. Danzo remained stoic as he spoke.

"It does not matter anyway. You are already sending them to their deaths by rising up against Hiruzen. Either you go with this foolish plan of yours with no help, or Hiruzen will send Itachi to slay the clan himself. Either way, Uchiha are going to die." Danzo told him harshly.

"At least if they die during the coup they know they were put to use, and their eyes will be preserved. Plus if you are willing to take my help, their will be less deaths of your clan members. I just need enough eyes to get by." Danzo stated.

Fugaku frowned with a sigh. He was angry with Itachi. That boy sold out his clan for the village that held foolish ideals. Didn't he know if the Uchiha were succesful his clan would truly become the strongest in the elemental nations?

"You have time to consider my offer or reconsider your actions. We both know that Hiruzen doesn't prefer violence if peace is option. So you can expect him to try and patch things up so there is no blood shed. But if you continue to refuse, and he feels that you are still a threat he will no doubt send Itachi to slay the clan." Danzo stated.

Fugaku gave a nod a frown still on his face. He knew that Itachi was strong but to take down the whole clan by himself was not possible, unless he really focused. The only way to kill Itachi in battle was to over power him or surprise him. He had no doubt that Shisui would rebel against the Uchiha as well, considering he and Itachi loved the village as much as the other and held the same ideals.

Fugaku pondered it for some time. Seeing that he was thinking it over Danzo decided to leave but as his hand touched the knob, Fugaku spoke.

"Fine. I'll accept. And if we are successful I'll give you HALF of the eyes of the fallen." Fugaku stated. Danzo smirked giving a nod.

"Good. I will do my best to rally up my forces. Now we must discuss one more thing." Danzo stated. Fugaku raised a brow.

"What are we to do about the twin Jinchuriki?" Danzo asked. Fugaku blinked before giving a shrug.

"Training them will be the best course of action. However, I will not subject Kushina's children to your ROOT training. I still respect her enough to at least do that for her children." Fugaku stated. Danzo remained silent, before giving a nod.

"Fine. For now lets discuss the plans." Danzo suggested.

Fugaku gave a nod as he pulled out a map of Konoha and started going over it with the old war hawk.

**Flashback end**

* * *

Fugaku was pulled out of his musings when he heard hushed chattering from below. Blinking he saw the Konoha populace, they were mostly confused and afraid, wondering what was going to happen to them. He looked back to see Danzo, along with some Uchiha and Ne operatives walking up from behind.

"Everyone is present, Fugaku-sama." One of the Uchiha stated. Fugaku nodded and looked out across the crowd.

"Have the gates been closed?" Fugaku asked, earning a nod.

"Hai, Fugaku-sama. Like you wanted, the village is now on lockdown. No one can get in or out. We also have patrol guards around the gates and on the borders of the village, inside and out." The Uchiha answered.

"Good. Has the letter to the Daimyo been sent?" Fugaku asked. This time it was Danzo who shook his head, earning a raised brow from the Uchiha leader.

"I think it will be best for me to go see the Daimyo personally. We all know that he most likely not support what happened, but I can…persuade him to see things our way." Danzo stated.

Fugaku was still curios but just gave a nod. His eyes glanced towards the Hokage monument and stopped on the Yondaime. The man's eyes gleamed before he turned to Danzo.

"What is the status of the Jinchuriki?" Fugaku wondered. Danzo scowled in response.

"It seems during the raid of the academy, one of your Uchiha blinded Naruto Uzumaki with a slash to the eyes. While the wound around his eyes were healed, his eyes were not. From Iruka Umino, he had orders from Shisui to have a nurse transplant Itachi's eyes into the boy. He still is unconsious, resting in the hospital guarded by Ne." Danzo explained.

Fugaku frowned, before he smirked. If Itachi really did give his eyes to Naruto, that meant the boy no doubt possesed the Sharingan which will become a powerful tool for the boy, which meant a more powerful tool for Konoha.

"And Shiki? What of her?" Fugaku asked. Danzo spoke, his scowl gone.

"While Shiki was not injured physically, she was apparently traumatized by witnessing not only two of your clansmens' death, but Itachi's as well. She is currently resting in the next room, near her brother. Guarded by Ne as well." Danzo stated. Fugaku nodded in response before turning to adress the crowd.

"People of Konohagakure no Sato! As you are made aware, the village was swarmed with Uchiha and ROOT opertatives. The reason why, is because the Uchiha clan planned a Coup d'teat with elder Danzo's help." Fugaku spoke.

Their were some whispers and conversations before Fugaku continued.

"The result of the coup d'teat was success. Instead of being captured and held away from the village, Sarutobi Hiruzen, your Sandaime Hokage, comitted suicide, which made me the winner of our fight for the title of Hokage." Fugaku stated.

"And because of this act of suicide, I am now the official Godaime Hokage. Your lives will continue as if nothing happened, but there will be changes made under my rule. For now, the village is on lockdown, meaning no one can leave or enter the village, unless I ordered it." Fugaku informed.

"PRAISE FUGAKU-SAMA!" a villager cheered. After some moments, the crowd broke out into cheers, but they were confused and worried that things weren't going to be the same. But they were happy, that their previous old weak leader, was now replaced with someone strong, young, and more idealistic.

* * *

From the crowd a small group of jounin watched the cheers and roars of applause. This group consisted of Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, Maito Gai and Hatake Kakashi.

"So this is how a democratic like dictatorship ends, with roars of appaulse." Kurenai muttered, before turning to a somber Asuma. She grasped his hand and gave him a soft sad smile. He tried giving one back but just couldn't.

"Where do our loyalties lie now?" Gai asked softly. Kakashi sighed and looked towards the Hokage monument, staring at the Yondaime and Sandaime's stone faces.

"With Konoha. It doesn't matter who the Hokage is, our loyalties lie with Konoha and only Konoha. We might not like who is ruling it, but that is life, cruel and cold." Kakashi stated with an emotionless tone.

They all nodded, though Asuma wasn't as quick to nod in agreement. A tear left his face with a sigh.

"The will of fire will still burn bright." Gai muttered.

"If not in us, then the next generation." Kurenai added.

"For Konoha." Kakashi finished before he and his friends continued to watch the crowd and new smirking Godaime Hokage. Kakashi sighed, his mind now on Naruto and Shiki.

For Konoha.

* * *

**Saito: Alright! Chapter is finished! Hope you guys liked it because I did, and if you didn't well…hehehehahahaHAHAHAHA! *cough* sorry. Anyway, like I said, hope you liked it, and REVIEW MITCHES! HAHAHAHA!**

**Zari: *Cue sweatdrop* Just what have I gotten myself into...? Ah, whatever. Anyways, this chapter took a rather long time to get out due to some unfortunate life problems on my end, but don't expect this to be the norm. Like Saito mentioned, though, I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter, and I hope to see you come chapter 3!**

**Saito Uzumaki and ZariGS, over and OUT!**


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